It can be easy to take advantage of the plethora of resources available in Indianapolis. Since we live in the city, we often take part in busy days and get lost in the hustle and bustle of city life. That being said, it can be surprising to hear about some of the sustainability issues our community suffers from. I recently found myself in a competition called “The Climathon”, hosted by Sustain Indy. In this contest, we were given 24 hours to solve a sustainability issue within the Indianapolis community. I’ll admit that I haven’t done much personally in terms of saving the environment. I’ve always thought, “what does it matter what I do?”
Throughout those 24 hours, I listened to dozens of smart people talk about sustainability in Indianapolis. They shared some of the big issues that our city is struggling with, such as food desserts, infrastructure deficiency, light pollution, and transportation. As I learned more about what was happening within our communities, I became more and more surprised at how I contributed to this problem through my own waste and unfamiliarity. This challenged me to brainstorm solutions to problems I had barely scratched the surface on. Believe me, it’s tough to come up with meaningful solutions to the city’s greatest problems, especially approaching the early hours of the morning when I would normally be asleep! Our team put our heads down and our ideas to paper and soon we found it was time to present.
22 hours later, our presentation began around 8 am. Ideas from other teams ran anywhere from apps to programs, all of which increasing awareness and offering solutions to the problems within Indianapolis. My team did not win. However, our takeaway was how important it was to get involved! We must be aware of how we interact with our environment. Sometimes the simplest things can make a huge impact in Indianapolis. By the way, you don’t have to stay awake for 24 hours to get involved!
Check out Sustain Indy to learn more.
KJ Fallon is a senior at Marian University majoring in Communication Studies. Originally from Lowell, Indiana, KJ enjoys stand up comedy, Spider-Man, and participating in the philanthropic community here in Indy.
